Everything you wanted to know...and then some

Second performance...or, as Sharon put it, "the night where you have to manufacture your own adrenalin."

In case you ever wonder what goes on backstage, here's an account of how my night went.

5:30 pm - at home, set hair in curlers (I'm getting pretty good at this)

6:45 - arrive at theater and sign in on call board - only 15 minutes late, not bad

6:45-7:15 - apply makeup, including false eyelashes

7:15 - remove hair from curlers; realize hair is not completely dry and therefor not as curly as it should be; shrug because there's nothing I can do about it now; congratulate self of being cool in a potentially stressful situation

7:20 - realize I need a caffeine fix, run next door to Rylander building to buy a soda from vending machine

7:30 - realize I should hurry things up; spray underarms with aerosol deodorant, careful not to confuse it with aerosol hairspray (did this once before and ended up with powder fresh hair); change into costume

7:34 - realize that thigh-high nylons are a great invention, vow to wear them more often

7:42 - wander around and chat with castmates, make sure my props are in place

7:50 - brush teeth (for benefits of castmates, especially those I will be kissing); apply lipstick

7:55 - I'm ready to go on! (But still have about 20 minutes to wait)

8:02 - curtain goes up and audience applauds, I get a burst of energy

8:04 - audience laughs at first joke and I start to relax

8:07 - head down to stage, get ready to go on

8:37 - head back to dressing room, change into costume #2

8:45 - take a sip from my 20 oz bottle, notice that my lipstick does not come off; must write Cover Girl and thank them

8:54 - head back down to stage

9:15 - intermission!

9:25 - Act II begins

9:36 - back to dressing room for costume #3

9:50-10:10 - read book (Saturday, by Ian McEwan, for the record)

10:11 - head down to stage one more time

10:32 - another show down! two more to go

10:55-12:00 am - after-show celebration at Pat's Place

So there you have it! The theater de-mystified...more or less. I won't go into how I solved the dilemma of VPLs...some mysteries are better left unexplained.